1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates generally to fire simulation systems utilizing propane or similar gases for training municipal, military, and other firefighter trainees as to the preferred procedures for suppressing and ultimately extinguishing fires. Particularly, the invention relates to a firefighter training system which is operable to produce a realistic live fire simulation of fuel spill, chemical and similar types of fires.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Firefighter training practices have provided for the combustion of flammable materials, such as wood, straw, and other organic and inorganic materials, which are to be extinguished by the trainee upon the application thereon of sufficient quantities of an appropriate extinguishing agent. The extinguishing agent that is most commonly utilized is water, due principally to its availability, cost and widespread usage as a fire extinguishing material. These training practices can result in relatively high injury rate, adverse environmental impact, and limited training effectiveness and trainee throughput that is associated with such practices. For example, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that in the United States alone, nearly 6,000 training-related injuries were sustained by firefighters in 1988. Nevertheless, live fire training is a crucial and necessary component of firefighter training, for it most closely represents the overall environment a firefighter is likely to encounter during a genuine fire emergency. These facts have lead to the introduction of various training devices utilizing propane and similar fuels which can be easily controlled. During the training smoke, heat and sound effects can be introduced to increase realism.
These devices utilizing propane and natural gas-operable burners located within dedicated xe2x80x9cburn rooms.xe2x80x9d Various methods have been utilized for having the fire respond to the particular extinguishment agent being utilized by the firefighters. Typical of this arrangement is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,270 issued Aug. 29, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,124 issued Jan. 8, 1991, both to Ernst et al.
These type of firefighter trainers are not readily adoptable to fuel spills. Certain patents have disclosed systems for training fire fighters for fuel spills such as U.S. Pat. No. 5.052,933 issued Oct. 1, 1991, U.S. Pat No. 5,055,050 issued Oct. 8, 1991 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,397 issued May 2, 1995, all to Rogers et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,191 issued Dec. 20, 1994 to Herman et al. which also deals with decking and fuel spills showing the use of a deck on the surface of the burn area. These trainers do not allow heavy vehicles on the burn area. U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,603 issued Nov. 22, 1994 to Wenrich et al. shows a pilot light assembly which can be utilized with a fuel spill trainer.
The foregoing and other deficiencies are overcome by the new methods and apparatus of the present invention, the details of which are set forth in the following text and accompanying drawings.
In accordance with the invention, a novel design firefighter trainer is provided for simulating fuel or chemical spills on the surface of the ground. The design allows heavy vehicles to move over the burn area with equipment and firefighters or extinguishing water hoses or similar equipment.
The surface of the burn area must be at or near ground level to represent such a spill. The top surface of the burn area can not present any obstruction or hindrance to vehicles entry over the area. The burn surface must be able to withstand any thermal stress created by the cycle of rapid heating and cooling. It is essential that the flames generated by burning propane or similar gas must have the appearance of an aviation fuel spill or the like including the wet look of an actual burning fuel spill.
The structure of the invention utilizes a steel, reenforced decking in a shallow pit suitable for holding liquid. The pit can be formed of concrete or similar construction materials. The preferred liquid is water so the invention will be described as using water. The decking has a bearing surface preferable constructed of straight bearing bars securely connected with S-shaped reticuline bars. The top surface of the straight and recticuline bars are at the same height and form the surface of the burn area. The straight bars are supported on the pit surface. The straight bars are approximately 1xe2x80x3 taller than the reticuline bars and form channel spacers between the straight bars under the reticuline bar. There are also channels for the fuel piping in the top of the concrete pit surface. The decking is orientated with its channel spaces perpendicular to the fuel piping channels in the pit surface. As a result, the decking is supported above the fuel piping.
The piping has spaced discharged ports which expel the fuel into the water which then flows to the surface of the water in the pit. The fuel is ignited on the surface of the water to simulate a gasoline or diesel fuel spill. The orientation of the channels in the pit and raised channels within the deck permits the release of the fuel to be evenly dispersed throughout the burn area. The fuel is preferably propane liquid or gas.
Although the pit is illustrated as square it can be rectangular or circular. Although the illustration is of one element, it can be expanded to cover larger areas in a multi-zone arrangement.
The deck is preferably a truss-style design. The reticulated riveted bar configuration in conjunction with the bearing bars gives the configuration a high strength and stiffness-to-weight ratio necessary for heavy-duty utilization. The configuration has excellent lateral stability since the reticulated bars act as cantilever beams in distributing concentrated loads laterally to the adjacent bearing bars. Allowing the reticulated bars run parallel with the main bearing bars, the reticulated bars also provide a supplementary bending resistance.
The firefighter trainer can be controlled manually which is usually done in smaller trainers or by the utilization of computer which allows the operator to control the training session by having complete control over the flame spread, temperature and safety devices or auxiliary equipment as hereinafter detailed.